Downstream

clothes,’ explains Ray.
‘Modern folk may have to
imagine this, the people were
happy.’ He was then five
years old, could already dog-
paddle and was anxious to
show off. ‘The adults are
seated on the grassy bank just
downstream of the bridge
where the water is shallow
and safe. I dog-paddle past
the crowd but I am not
noticed. No one shouts,
“look, he’s only five and can